


After Party Drinks

by Aithilin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bartender Nyx, Established Relationship, Fluff, Good Parent Regis Lucis Caelum, M/M, Not-So-Secret Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: Nyx puts some old skills to use after a party at the Citadel.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum & Nyx Ulric, Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60





	After Party Drinks

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted over at my Tumblr

“What do you need, Highness?”

There was a tradition of the Citadel parties to have a standing bar. In the little reception room where the cocktail hour was held prior to any event, and again in the main even room regardless of dance, dinner, or awards ceremonies, the stretch of bar was stocked with everything Nyx would have once dreamt of getting his hands on. Some of the more common ballrooms had shelves with full stocks prepared for any occasion— the strip of delicate, decadent bar a temptation waiting to happen during any patrol— while others received the little things that could be wheeled through the halls and service elevators as needs demanded. There were storerooms, Nyx knew, of vintages and selections, tools and glasses, that a younger version of him would have once killed to see. 

Now, he was just happy to take advantage of the quiet night as the long and drawn out ceremonies and parties wound down to a close. The hall had emptied, the lights remained dimmed, and the guests had moved on to their accommodations or were being ushered quickly on their way with gift bags in hand. 

Noctis smiled as he moved to sit at the bar Nyx had slipped behind. “Are you allowed to be back there, hero?”

“What kind of question is that, little star?” Nyx grinned and flipped a fresh napkin from a holder behind the bar to his elbow to his hand to drop squarely in front of the amused Prince; “I’m never allowed anywhere fun. What can I get you?”

“Anything. I had to talk to nobility all night.”

“Poor you, must have been terrible.”

“It was.” Noctis watched as Nyx pulled a short and thick glass from a shelf, tossing it in the air playfully before rolling it down his arm to a hand he raised at the last moment. He set it on the napkin he had dropped in place with a grin; “Couldn’t talk to the cute guy I liked.”

“Should I be jealous?” 

The Glaive moved easily behind the bar, stepping lightly around the debris of the night— fallen napkins, a fallen tumbler that had been unceremoniously kicked aside before someone noticed. The giddy excitement of the selection at his fingertips almost stalled his selection. He trailed a hand over the selection of bottles until he found what Noctis had been drinking when the Nif company heiress he had been playing nice with finally moved on to more stimulating pastures. 

“Very.”

“Anyone I should be looking out for?”

He flipped the bottle with ease to pour, pouring high before cutting the angle and twisting the bottle around. He measured by sight, the ease of a hundred nights and a thousand hours of practise and patience coming back to him with an ease he had never thought he’d feel again. 

“The bartender is kind of cute.”

“Just cute?”

“Very cute?”

“I’ll settle for cute if you write your number on a napkin,” Nyx pushed the glass toward Noctis with a smirk, leaning forward to rest an elbow of the still shining surface— polished clean in the few moments of quiet the bartenders had through the night— until he was almost nose-to-nose with the Prince. 

“Should you be back there, Ulric?”

Nyx would have almost preferred the intrusion of the Captain, or the Marshal, even the bratty Shield who had been sending glares out over Noctis’ head all night would have been preferred to the actual voice that had interrupted them. Noctis only grinned as Nyx snapped to attention. “Majesty.”

“Dad, please, he’s been working all night.” Noctis said with a grin over the edge of his glass. 

The King had returned from seeing his most esteemed guests off to their eventual accommodations. Plans for meals and meeting made along the way already giving him the telltale signs of a blossoming headache behind his eyes. “I suppose he has. But not in his preferred trade, it seems.”

Nyx offered a hesitant grin, holing up a clean glass, “Can I get you anything, Majesty?”

“Anything, Sir Ulric. I leave it in your hands.”

The Glaive relaxed into the more familiar actions again, ensuring the King would see some of the flair he could manage. The persona of the guard just off duty dropped and the charming smile of the seasoned bartender fell into place with a playful examination of the drinks on offer. “Oh, bartender’s choice, Majesty? I never would have thought you were a gambler.”

“A King is always a gambler, young man.” Regis was smiling; despite the mantle of his status still draped across him, Nyx knew that the role was finished for the night. “Just as you seem to be.”

“I don’t gamble with anything important, Majesty,” Nyx made his selection and offered a dramatic pour of a fine amber import from Altissia. “Just my heart.”

The drink was pushed toward the King with a grin. And with the slightest smile from Regis taken as permission, Nyx leaned forward over the bar as he had been and kisses Noctis. Just a quick, playful little peck to draw out the familiar smile he had been looking for all night through the noise of the party and the constant distractions of the guests. Nyx had wanted to see that little smile ever since he had seen Noctis arrive in the ballroom in his suit, with the polite and calm mask of the Prince firmly in place as the guests started to move in like vultures. Or supplicants, if Nyx was being generous, asking for favours and time to pitch ideas along with the praises. 

“Just your heart, eh?” Noctis asked, still smiling that smug, lopsided and easy little grin of his. “How’d that pay off for you?”

“I think I won, little star.”

“Next time,” Regis interrupted again, the stern tone reminding them of his presence lost to the amused look he gave them; “I think Sir Ulric would do better as a guest, rather than a guard?”


End file.
